Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment Research Paper

For the benefit of patient the medical profession has long subscribed to a body of ethical statements. It is used to safeguard the patient life and rights. But there have been times where these same rights are infringed upon and it is mostly due to lack of knowledge, social standing, or lack of monetary means all of which encompass a persons socio-economic status. Two different case studies will be evaluated to determine whether or not there truly is an effect on medical ethics. The first will be the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, and the case of Henrietta Lacks and the Hela cells.

In 1932, government doctors conducted a medical experiment known as the Tuskegee study. It took place in Macon County, Alabama. The Public Health Service launched 6 projects in the South in predominately poor black communities. One project took place in Macon County. The doctors were determined to diagnose as many as 10,000 people. By the end of 1931 there was not enough money to continue the program and therefore the doctors left. Public Health Service officials were anxious to benefit from the abandoned program. The head of the VD division Teleford Clark had a plan. If there was not enough money for this program then perhaps there was funding for less expensive research. He proposed Macon County as the ideal site for a 6 month study of untreated

The Tuskegee syphilis project was a study based on prejudices and unethical practices. The study began in1932 in Macon County, Alabama where a large number of black sharecroppers resided. The study included 600 African American men of which 399 had syphilis. The premise of the project was to study the effects of syphilis on the African American male. The men were told only that they were participating in a study and being treated for “bad blood.” At no time were the subjects communicated they had or did not have syphilis. At the beginning of the study, no treatment was available for syphilis, which is a sexually transmitted disease. There had been several studies on syphilis, but none on the effects of African Americans explicitly. Syphilis

Introduction James H. Jones authored the book Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. The Tuskegee Syphilis experiment was a study of 600 African American males that started in 1932 and ended in 1972 (Jones, 1993, p. 1) The study was not beneficial. This paper will summarize the book Bad Blood as well as address theoretical perspectives, methodology, and ethics of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.

Additionally, this point protects against loss of confidentiality and deception. Within the decades the Tuskegee Experiment lasted, participants were subjected to medical procedures that required them to endure massive amount of pain at one time. Because participants were barred from administration of the penicillin , they suffered for years of syphilis symptoms. Many of the human subjects transmitted the disease to their families, wives and children. On the course of the study, the researchers even allowed the death of some of the participants.

The code of ethics in which an individual abides by speaks volume. High ethical values are very important in every facet of life. Honesty, loyalty and trust worthiness make up the moral compass in which to live. This moral compass can often be blemished with the ugliness of immorality, deceit and greed. The Tuskegee Syphilis study and The Stanford Prison Experiment are experiments indicative of how research and an individual’s ethical values can become distorted.

U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee In 1932 an experiment was initiated by the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) to record the natural history of untreated, latent syphilis in African American men. The study took place in Macon County, Alabama; it involved 399 syphilitic men as well as 201 healthy, uninfected men to serve as the controlled group. This experiment which was “originally scheduled … to last six months.” as stated by Dr. Taliaferro Clark, Chief of the USPHS Venereal Disease Division, stretched out until 1972.

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study had lots of controversy over the 1900´s. The study happened in a racist and poor time period between 1932 and 1972. It included 600 African American men that were infected with Syphilis. It was conducted in rural and poor Tuskegee, Alabama. The test was to see if African American males responded to Syphilis differently than white males. This study was passed and funded through Congress; however they did not know the full story. The wrong in this study was that the men did not give informed consent and did not receive any treatment. The men were studied till their autopsy, which is obviously death. This sparked much controversy and changed human experimentation forever.

The Tuskegee study of Untreated Syphilis began in 1932, mainly designed to determine the history of untreated latent syphilis on 600 African American men in Tuskegee, Alabama. 201 out of 600 men were non-syphilitic just unknowingly involved in the study as a control group This study is known to be “the most infamous biomedical research study in the U.S history”. Most of these men had never visited a doctor and they had no idea what illness they had. All of the men agreed to be a participant thinking they were being treated for “bad blood” and plus they were given free medical care and meals.

The Tuskegee syphilis experiment was an infamous that study the natural progression of untreated syphilis through African American men. These people were told that if they participate in this experiment they would receive free health care from the U.S. government. Around 400 men or 399 exact had syphilis while the remaining 200 didn’t have the disease, a total of 600 men were enrolled in the study. However, later on those who was infected wasn’t told that they had it, neither was he treated with penicillin which later on became the treatment. Due to this reason many of the men that participated in this experimented passed away due to syphilis. The Tuskegee Experiment lasted for forty years between 1932 and 1972. This forty years old experiment

Methodology The author utilized excessive methodology throughout his book during the Tuskegee Experiment Study. Throughout the study, the helping professionals had many challenges and made changes when conducting this experiment. During this time, the helping professionals had no legal guidelines or stipulations until the last few years of the study. In the book, there were several methodologies that were utilized during the experiment.

It has now been a quarter of a century, and yet the images and heartache that still evolve when the words "Tuskegee Syphilis Study" are brought up, still haunts people around the world and touches upon many professionals such as social workers, medical examiners, and so forth. Sometimes people hear about this disgusting human experiment in a highly visible way directed to the entire country as an example of what we as a country and people, in general, should not do. This occurred when the study first made national news in 1972, when President Clinton offered a formal apology, or when Hollywood actors star in a fictionalized television movie of the story. On the other hand the audience may become fainter: kept alive only by memories and stories told in the African American community, in queries that circulate over the world wide web and radio talk shows, or even in courses such as this one being taught by social workers, historians, sociologists, or bioethicists. This is neither the first nor the last unethical human experiment done under the human study for the medical purposes umbrella, basically stating it is ok to sacrifice a few people in the name of medical research.

This study was referred to as the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis

Rivers that passed through urban areas became a holder for human waste products. Factories began releasing pollutants directly into rivers and streams. By the 1850’s inhabitants began experiencing epidemics of cholera and typhoid. In 1969, chemical waste releasaed into Ohio’s Cuyahoga River caused it to burn into flames and the waterway became a symbol of how insutrial pollution was destroying America’s natural resources. Aditionally, mining activties also affected water pollution by increasing the amount of toxic elements released into the environment.

Specific Purpose: By the end of my speech, the audience will know about the problem of conducting experiments on animals and the ethical issue of the cruel treatment of animals by the researchers. While the problem of conducting experiments on animals draws attention of the society, the speech would present the limitation of animal experiments and outline the alternatives. Central Idea: 1. Conducting experiments on animals has become one of crucial ethical issues of the modern society and it has even been banned in some countries.